


Subcontracting

by ellerkay



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, M/M, implied past Ethan/Giles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 10:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4663749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellerkay/pseuds/ellerkay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlet set during Band Candy, Ethan Rayne’s POV.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Subcontracting

_We need people to be seriously out of it. No one needs to go too crazy, but they can’t be thinking straight. Can you help us out, Mr. Rayne?_  
  
Of course he could. Ethan paged through his spellbooks. Sleeping spell? It would work, but it was so dull. Nothing creative or fun in that. Hallucinations were amusing, but extreme. People would figure out something was going on, and Trick had emphasized the delicate nature of his intended operation. Something pinged in the back of Ethan’s mind; the memory of a spell that had made him laugh out loud when he first read it. Ethan grabbed the book it was in and opened it to the appropriate page. A slow smile spread across his face.  
  
 _Best administered through food or drink._ Hadn’t Ripper always had a bit of a weakness for chocolate? And, really, who didn’t?  
  
***  
  
It worked like a charm, or, more appropriately, a potion. The best he could have hoped for. Well, maybe not the best. It was Ripper, all right. Earring, shirt around his waist, pack of fags in the sleeve of this T-shirt, just a hint of eyeliner. Full of barely contained energy, bouncing on his heels, pacing like a caged animal, that manic gleam in his eye. The rough speech, even his words – _hit him_. Only the “him” in question didn’t used to be Ethan. Not usually, anyway.  
  
The cold steel of the gun against his neck confirmed that Ripper didn’t like him the way he had when they were teenagers for real. Well, you couldn’t have everything you wanted. The spell didn’t cause memory loss, and Ethan hadn’t really expected that Ripper would forgive him just because he was feeling like his old self again. Still, it would have been nice, even if it wouldn’t have lasted.  
  
They left him handcuffed to the assembly line, where Ethan sat until Mr. Trick arrived to pay and release him. All in all, it had been a successful endeavor. He’d caused some chaos, earned some money, and had only gotten hit a couple times. And even if Ripper was still Watcher enough to hate him…it had been good to catch a glimpse of his old mate.

**Author's Note:**

> Aw. I almost feel bad for him, except he’s still so slimy I feel like I should take a shower after writing this.


End file.
